Charles s



peana 5am AcHARLLs-s. H. FOSTER,

or DEERISL'E, MAINE.

Lehm Paten No. ss,o26,-daad Mmh 23, 1869.

MACKEREL-LATCE The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and part of the same.

ktion of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which drawing is a perspective view ofmy invention, secured to a vessels rail.

In mackerel-fishing, each manhas his allotted` berth,y being from thirty to thirty-six inches of the rails, changing from side to Aside as the vessel ,sails on one or the other tack, each fisherman having two` lines, which -he is required to keep within the limits of his berth, in order that they may not get entangled with those on either side. y

j Whatever device may be employed to confine the .Y lines within the prescribed limits, it is indispensable that the line can be instantly detached, in case of injury, in order that another may be substituted for it.

Owing to the precarious anduncertain habits of mackerel, when biting, it is necessary that their bitingmoods be taken advantage of to the utmost.

The nature of my inventionconsists in a bar, or stock` of wood, which is secured to the rail by screws, or other suitable means, having two grooves, or channels for the lines, and provided with metallic latches, arranged to hold the vlines securely closed, and to be instantly released when the lines require liberating.

In the drawings- A represents the vessels deck; B, the tmlwark; and O, the rail. 4 v D is the stock of the latch, and a a, are two metallic latches, which are pivoted to bar D by the-rivets b b. c c are the lines, made fast to the cleats dd, secured c'ut across the face of stock D, as shown.' The pivot-ends of the catches are formed with the upper corner rounded, to allow the catch to be opened, as shown, while the opposite end is cut at an angle, relatively to their sides and edges, so as'to shut into the recesses cut in stock D, as shown. y

In practice, the lines are first made fast to the cleats d d, and are then carried up, and secured in the latch, as shown, when they are ready for use, the sherman, in hauling the sh,`taking hold of the line at the outside of the rail, and therefore not disturbing the latch, except in case'of changing lines.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-f l A latch, as constructed, with stock D, the catches a a. and channels for the lines c c, vsubstantially as and for the purposes specified.

OHAS. S. H. FOSTER; Witnesses:

O.'A. SPoFroRD, J. D. LEAOH.

to the bulwarks. The lines cc pass through the grooves l 

